LAHORE: Law Minister Rana Sanaullah says PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s “dirty agenda” of blackmailing the state institutions will not be allowed to succeed and he will be punished like he was on Oct 2 when he wanted to shut down Islamabad.

“Now he is not asking for locking down Islamabad and has even withdrawn his request for a rally in Islamabad upon government’s refusal, knowing well that he will be punished again,” he told the media outside the Punjab Assembly building when the session was stopped after pointing out a lack of quorum.

Sanaullah said playing up a dissenting note in the Supreme Court was tantamount to blackmailing. The government, he said, might go for a review petition as well as move a contempt of court plea against the PTI chief. “The PTI public meeting is tantamount to mockery of the Supreme Court decision,” he added.

He said people of Pakistan knew the PTI chairman’s tactics and would oust him as well as Sheikh Rashid and Dr Tahirul Qadri from politics in the 2018 general election.

Answering a question about Imran Khan’s allegation that he was offered Rs10 billion bribe by a close friend of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the law minister said the allegation was wrong on the face of it. In a lighter vein, he said, “Shahbaz Sharif is not in the habit of paying a single penny to anyone – even after compelling officials to work overtime”.

Regarding Indian tycoon Sajjan Jindal’s visit, the law minister said it was an overt meeting with the prime minister because secret meetings could take place anywhere in the world.

He said the Lahore metro issue was sub judice (in the Supreme Court) and added that some foreign hands and NGOs wanted to block development so that the PML-N could not take political benefit. He said Lahore is an international city and millions of people daily visit it from across the province as well as from all over the country.

He said the government had now allocated budget to protect heritage site Chauburji, which was lying unattended for the past many decades and had become a den of addicts. He said the judiciary had taken its time and now settled the issue of appointment of vice chancellors in universities for good.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed said the chief minister must move court in the wake of allegation levelled against him and he would be defeated again.

He said federal minister Riaz Peerzada’s resignation would serve as a first drop of rain and soon many people would be leaving the PML-N.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017